Looking
for the best Integrated Amps?
E-mail us or call The Palace today that we have them
starting $2495 to well over $30,000. We
are experts with over 25 years of experience selling Integrated
Amps.
Call The Palace today at 786 388-8050.

HD PHOTOGRAPHY WORK DONE BY LARRY DIAZ FOR HIGH-END PALACE

Audio Tekne Integrated Amplifiers

The
Audio Tekne TFM-9412 Integrated Amplifier with dual
300B's is an absolute audio masterpiece. This integrated
is completely hand made including the six tall massive
transformers you see on the photo, there is no circuit
boards on this 70 pound beauty, is complete wired point
to point with a special silver solder. This 9412 has 5
inputs and 8 Watts per channel of absolute magic, the
sound is so pure my audiophile friends that you will be
hearing your whole music collection with a sound quality
never heard it before.

Contact
The Palace for Audio Tekne Integrated Amps!

Regarded
by many reviewers and audiophiles as one of the best
manufactures of high-end Integrated
Amplifiers available in the world. Link to
the new Accuphase
full line brochure.

Contact
The Palace for all World Class Accuphase Integrated
Amplifiers. Demos available!

Balanced Audio Technology
VK-300X

New open box BAT VK-300x Integrated Amplifiers available
with premium TELEFUNKEN 6922 tubes in the gain stage with 2 XLR + 3 RCA Inputs
and outputs offering 150W into 8 Ohms and 300W into 4 Ohms.
This unit has the black and silver faceplate.

Effortless Power:
When we began this project,
our goal was to design an integrated amplifier that could
satisfy the needs of the world's most discriminating music
lovers. The Balanced Audio Technology VK-300x exceeds
our highest expectations in this regard, and can form the
nucleus of the finest high-end music system. The VK-300x
provides a robust 150 watts per channel into 8 Ω loads
and easily doubles this output into 4 Ω loads.

Ultimate Flexibility:
Not only can the VK-300x
form the nucleus for outstanding music reproduction, it can
be configured to meet almost any system need. Add remote
control for the ultimate in convenience. The extraordinary
versatility of Balanced Audio Technology's VK-300x
allows it to perform without peer and thus truly stand apart
from the crowd.

Preeminent Design:
Many integrated amplifiers
offer the benefit of convenience and little more. The VK-300x
is different by design. Its circuitry has the same caliber
as those found in Balanced Audio Technology high-end
components. The VK-300x input
stage is configured to the same high standards as our award
winning preamplifier line. The VK-300x user interface (the same as
on our preamplifiers) offers the superb flexibility and ease
of use that has set the standard in the industry. Even the
VK-R3 remote is machined from a solid block of aluminum.
This is an integrated amplifier of preeminent design and
pedigree.

Superb Musicality:
The best part, if one can
get over the sheer beauty of the VK-300x, is the way
it sounds. The VK-300x is pure BAT. "Open",
"delicate", "smooth" and
"powerful" are words that come easily to mind when
trying to describe its sonic characteristics. We can say
without hesitation that the VK-300x is competitive
with reference-level separates at up to three times the
price. Finally, musical finesse and superb performance have
been combined without compromise into one convenient
package.

Call The Palace for pricing on this BAT VK-300X!

HD PHOTOGRAPHY WORK DONE BY LARRY DIAZ FOR HIGH-END PALACE

mbl 7008

The
7008 is regarded as one of the best
manufactures of high-end Integrated
Amplifiers available in the world. Available in
piano black and gold as shown.

Now
available at The Palace an excellent condition $12,000 Viva Solista Reference
Integrated Amp. This 100 pounds
hand built Italian masterpiece has no circuit boards for superior sonic transparency.
The sound quality is as
transparent and organic as it gets. This
Viva Solista is regarded as one of the best Integrated
Amps ever designed in high-end Audio and one of the best we have
tried herein High-End Palace.

The Single Ended
Class A Solista Integrated Amp with 845 output tubes and
tube rectification, the same as the Aurora, and a preamp
section based on the same amazing 6c45 tube that forms the
heart of the spectacular Linea 45 preamp, delivers
incredible bang-for-the-buck.

Try to find any
high-end linestage or amplifier at this price that can
deliver the performance of the Solista, let alone do both
for one price. Designer Amedeo Schembri is single-handedly
challenging previous beliefs that the integrated amplifier
must necessarily be inferior to separates. Again, through
careful implementation of power supply design, combined with
brilliantly creative, yet simple circuit topologies that
employ only the finest, carefully selected components,
Schembri has re-written the book on what is possible from a
single chassis. This amplifier, which features remote volume
control, delivers the heart and soul of the music like no
other integrated amplifier in the world.

The familiar Viva
sound, which is both liquid, yet extended in both frequency
extremes, brings all the power, impact and control of the
big high-end contenders. Not for a moment, though, does it
sacrifice the delicacy, emotion and sheer musicality, that,
otherwise, only live music is able to evoke. Viva's
top-of-the-line integrated is becoming famous at audio shows
for making speakers "sound better than ever..."
combining power and finesse to create a musical experience
that can only be surpassed by Viva's own large monoblocks
via the Linea 45 linestage.

Tube complement: 2 x 211 ; 2 x 845 ; 2 x
6SN7 ; 2 x 6C45p

four line inputs and one direct input

one buffered line output

Direct heated triodes

Single-ended 845 output

Zero feedback

Pure Class A

Point-to-point handwired

Remote volume control

Direct amplifier input

Buffered auxiliary pre-out

Massive custom transformers

User selectable 211 or 845 rectification

Visit our website and look under
CERTIFIED TRADE-INS, PRE-OWNED & CONSIGNMENT that we
have been told for years that we sell the best certified
trade-ins in the world. If you need any additional
information call me that you could not be in better hands.

• A single-ended amplifier allows voices
and instruments to retain their natural presence to
an uncanny degree—or, as Harvey Rosenberg once
quoted Gertrude Stein as saying, "There is lots of there there."
A very good single-ended amp goes further, pulling solo
voices and instruments away from whatever else is taking
place in the recording, musically and sonically. Either way,
the effect isn't like the fussy, fey, over etched imaging
that some audiophiles and reviewers hanker for: It's not as
if an SE amp wants you to think there's a trumpet or a
tambourine between your speakers, but rather that there is
real music, made by real people playing the
trumpet or tambourine, between your speakers—solid, of
course, but still alive and breathing.

The difference between typical high-end audio
imaging and the musical presence of a single-ended amp is
the difference between listening to somebody type a
manuscript and listening to them read what they've written.

• Single-ended amps allow music to retain
its sense of flow and momentum. Failing to do so is the most
egregious shortcoming I hear whenever circumstances force me
to listen to some overwrought system built around an
overpriced and overpowered push-pull amplifier: Despite
being able to produce attractive or even
"realistic" sound, the thing doesn't damn make
music.

REVIEW OF THE NEW $16,900 VIVA SOLISTA

“See
me, touch me, hear me!” Those would be the Solista MkII's
first words, if it could talk. The amplifier's flowing lines
and voluptuous shape couldn't be from anywhere but Italy.
And it is, entirely hand-crafted in Vicenza. The chassis'
undulating curves and exquisitely machined knobs show this
is no ordinary high-end amplifier. Listen to your favorite
tunes and it becomes clear the Solista MkII was designed to
preserve, above all else, the essence of the music.

Singers
sounded more flesh-and-blood human with the Viva Solista
MkII hooked up to my speakers. Frank Sinatra was in the
house! This amplifier is almost magical in the way it plays
tunes. Music, especially acoustic music, never sounded this
natural before; it moved like the real thing. It breathes!
Viva's founder Amedeo Schembri is something of a
perfectionist; he's an engineer who flat-out refuses to
compromise his designs. For example, instead of using
printed circuit boards, the Solista MkII's innards are
entirely hand-wired and soldered. Schembri makes the effort
because he thinks wired amplifiers sound better than ones
with printed circuit boards.

Viva
amplifiers' transformers are all designed by Schembri and
custom built by a local supplier. Again, that obsessive
level of design is rare, even for most of today's high-end
vacuum tube electronics manufacturers. Schembri's custom
transformers are absolutely crucial to the Solista MkII's
sound because the music signal is routed through the
transformer.

Off-the-shelf
transformers and printed circuit boards would dramatically
improve profit margins, but at the cost of sound quality.
Schembri is a good listener—he wouldn't build amps any
other way.

Before
founding Viva in 1996, Schembri designed and built gear for
recording studios and concert sound systems. In those days
he designed solid-state electronics, but he now works
exclusively with vacuum tubes. He knows what solid-state can
do, but it can't approach the musicality of tube designs.

You
can't miss the Solista MkII's tubes as they stand proud in
the chassis' "V" notch; the tubes near the front
are unusually large (approximately 6.25 inches high). Upon
powering up the amplifier, the front tube quartet lights in
spectacular fashion, much brighter than the soft orange glow
of smaller power tubes you see in more common tube designs.
The Solista MkII's four smaller rear tubes are literally
overshadowed by the power and rectifier tubes' brilliant
white light. The all-aluminum chassis helps dissipate some
of the tubes' heat. Even so, the amplifier should be placed
out of reach of small children.

The
rear panel hosts four pairs of stereo RCA inputs, plus a
"Direct" that bypasses the volume control and
input selector. If you have a turntable you'll need to buy a
separate phono preamplifier to play records over the Solista
MkII. (Viva offers a matching phono preamp). The integrated
amp has a set of stereo RCA outputs, intended for use with a
powered subwoofer (or two). A small remote is provided to
control volume. Viva products are built to order. The
standard finish is a medium, metallic-grey lacquer, but
custom-ordered paint jobs are available. My favorite Vivas
are the drop-dead gorgeous two-tone, fiery red and black
jobs. Oh so Italian they are, but Viva's creamy white
electronics are also stunning.

In
use, the Solista MkII is a model of simplicity and unfussy
ergonomics: Turn it on, bask in the tubes' glow, select an
input (such as CD), adjust the volume and enjoy the music.
The sound is a good deal warmer and richer than my reference
Parasound JC-1/JC-2 electronics, but I like it! The Solista
MkII's 22 watts per channel sound far more powerful than
you'd expect, but the amp didn't have enough gusto to make
my Magneplanar 3.6/R speakers sing. They require gobs of
power. But the Viva came alive when partnered with my
Dynaudio C-1 speakers. I used XLO cabling for the entire
system, specifically Signature 3 interconnects and speaker
wires.

Great
tube components are mystical objects. Maybe it has to do
with the way the tubes glow, inflamed with voltages that
produce the sound of music. Since most recordings aren't
"flat," accuracy isn't the goal, musicality is.

The
Solista MkII produced a solidity to the sound of instruments
and vocals that transistor gear never quite achieves. I
loved what the Solista MkII did for less-than-terrific
sounding recordings.

Take
Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon's In Paris CD,
recorded in November, 1962. It's a monophonic recording and
the Solista MkII brought not just the sound, but the music
back to life. Every meaty pluck, slide and pull on Dixon's
stand up bass's strings energized the beat, and his
down-and-dirty vocals added to the excitement. The duo's
rhythms and toe-tappin' grooves were a total joy. The
Solista MkII is a feel good machine. The Solista MkII makes
almost every recording sound better than it really is. Big
band jazz, like Mel Lewis/Bob Brookmeyer's Live at the
Village Vanguard, 1980 CD absolutely knocked me out. Massed
brass and winds are tough to get right—they can sound
bright or thin—but the Solista MkII was magnificent here.

Thing
is, 22 watts per channel will probably limit the appeal of
the Solista MkII for Nirvana fans. Not that the amp won't
play reasonably loud with suitable speakers, and my Dynaudio
C-1s were definitely in that category. But wham-bam dynamics
aren't in the cards. Viva makes stereo preamps, stereo and
mono power amps, and integrated amps like the Solista MkII
I'm reviewing here. The company also offers a dedicated Fono
(phono) preamplifier ($15,900) for analog lovers; a
"baby" integrated amp, the Solista Lt ($8,500);
the Verona TRE power amplifier ($24,900) and more.

Jeff Rowland Concentra
Integrated with box, manual and remote in new
conditions. I
believe the photos above speaks for them self.
This 100 Watts per channel beauty provides a sound
quality and a refinement that is in the top 1% of
the best integrated amps.Links
to 17 reviews: AUDIO
REVIEW & AUDIOPHILIA.